Sailing craft

ABSTRACT

A multi-hull sailing craft has three hulls arranged in a generally triangular plan configuration in which two of the hulls are located aft of the third, forward hull in a generally Yshaped configuration. The hulls are connected by three spars, each of which radiates from a central connector towards its associated hull. The forward hull is pivotally connected to its spar so that it may act as a rudder and provide steering. A passenger deck spans the distance between the transversely spaced aft hulls and is connected to the hulls by stanchions which extend downwardly from the deck. The central connector also includes an upwardly opening mask socket which receives the lower end of the mast to support the mast without the use of stays or shrouds. The aft hulls preferably are asymmetrical in cross section but are symmetrical in a fore and aft direction. All of the spars of the sailing craft, including those associated with the mast and sail may be disassembled into components of smaller length approximately equal to that of the aft hulls to facilitate transporting of the sailing craft in a disassembled configuration. The features of the sailing craft may be employed in iceboats or similar sand and snow vehicles.

United States: Patent Wilson v [15] 3,691,976 [451 Sept. 19, 1972 [54-1 SAILING cam 72 Inventor: Donald J.,M. Wilson, Peace Boats, Inc., 54 Lewis Wharf, Boston, Mass. 02110 22 Filed: Nov. 16, 1970 21 Appl.No.: 89,951

[52] US. Cl ..l14/39, 280/16 [51] int. Cl. .3631) 35/00 [58] Field of Search ..114/39, 102, 43', 280/16 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,572,740 3/1971 Rypinski ..280/ 16 3,051,503 8/1962 Halperin ..1 14/43 X 3,026,121 3/1962 Ellam 14/43 X Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Bliir Attorney-Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks [57] ABSTRACT A multi-hull sailing craft has three hulls arranged in a I generally triangular plan configuration in which two of the hulls are located aft of the third, forward hull in a generally Y-shaped configuration. The hulls are connected by three spars, each of which radiates from a central connector towards its associated hull. The forward hull is pivotally connected to its spar so that it may act as a rudder and provide steering. A passenger deck spans the distance between the transversely spaced aft hulls and is connected to the hulls by stanchions which extend downwardly from the deck. The central connector also includes an upwardly opening mask socket which receives the lower end of the mast to support the mast without the use of stays or shrouds. The aft hulls preferably are asymmetrical in cross section but are symmetrical in a fore and aft direction. All of the spars of the sailing craft, including those associated with the mast and sail may be disassembled into components of smaller length approximately equal to that of the aft hulls to facilitate transporting of the sailing craft in a disassembled configuration. The features of the sailing craft may be employed in iceboats or similar sand and snow vehicles.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures sum 1 or 2 PATENTEBsEP '1 9 1912 BACKGROUND OF INVENTION been proposed and used in recent years, virtually all include individual components which are relatively bulky even when disassembled. For example, these craft usually have a one-piece hull which may be between 10 and feet long. These hulls are somewhat heavy and are awkward to manipulate as when loading onto an automobile or boat trailer. Additionally, the spars such as the mast, boom, etc., characteristically are of one-piece construction and are awkward to handle because of their relatively long length. It is among the primary objects of the invention to provide an improved sailing craft construction of the general class described which may be broken down simply into component parts, each of which is relatively small and may be handled easily.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One aspect of the invention relates to an improved arrangement for connecting the three hulls together securely but without the use of conventional fastening devices. This arrangement includes the provision of two pairs of stanchions which extend downwardly and the craft to be modified or changed if desired by simply substituting appropriate spars of different length and thus to vary the location of the mast in relation to the hulls.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved sailing craft of simplified construction which is easy to repair and maintain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sailing craft which may be assembled and disassembled easily and which may be broken down into easily manipulable components to simplify handling and transportation of the craft.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sailing craft having three hulls in which two of the hulls are located aft of the third hull and in which the aft hulls are symmetrical in cross section.

inwardly from the passenger deck with each pair of stanchions being engagable withone of the aft hulls. The upper surface of each aft hull has a pair of stanchion receptive sockets formed therein at an appropriate angle to receive the downwardly and inwardly extending stanchions. The aft hulls are rigidified further by a pair of forwardly convergent, generally horizontal spars, the aft end of each being receptive in a socket formed at the forward end of its associated aft hull. The forwardly converging ends of the spars are received in sockets formed in a central connector. The combination of sockets in the aft hulls with the aft spars and deck stanchions are effective to lock the aft hulls together without the use of any special connectors such as bolts, clamps or the like. The central connector also has a forwardly opening socket which receives the aft end of a forwardly projecting spar. The free end of the forwardly projecting spar supports the forward hull for pivotal movement about a generally vertical axis. The central connector includes an additional, generally upwardly opening socket which receives the lower end of I the mast to support the mast.

Another aspect of the invention relates to the construction of the rigging spars (mast, lufi' spar and boom) so that each of them may be disassembled into shorter component length, each component preferably being the approximate length of each of the aft hulls.

Another aspect of the invention relates to the configuration of the hulls in which each aft hull is asymmetrical in cross section. The hulls thus shaped eliminate the need for the usual centerboard or daggerboard.

Still another aspect of the invention relates to the manner in which the three hulls are connected together by the central connector and forward and aft spars. This arrangement permits the sailing characteristics of Another object of the invention is to provide a sailing craft having three hulls arranged in a generally triangular plan configuration and in which the hulls are connected together by spars which radiate in a Y-shaped configuration from a central connector and in which the central connector also serves to support the mast.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sailing craft of the type described in which the hull and mast and spars are connected together without the use of special fasteners such as bolts, clamps and the like and in which all the component parts fit together in a selflocking configuration.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a sailing craft of the type described in which the sailing characteristics of the craft may be modified, if desired, with ease.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood more fully from the following detailed description thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1. is a side elevation of the sailing craft;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sailing craft;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the sailing craft; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan illustration of the central connector; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view through the juncture of a representative pair of spar segments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2'the sailing craft includes a pair of transversely spaced aft hulls l0 and a forward hull 12. The hulls 10, 12 may be fabricated from a variety of materials according to any one of a number of well-known techniques. For example, they may be fabricated from a suitable plastic material, formed to the desire hull shape in a rotational molding process. Another technique for fabricating the hulls may be to mold the hulls from a linear polyethelene plastic injected with nitrogen by a process in which the walls of the mold are maintained at a relatively cool temperature while the internal regions of the plastic-gaseous mixture are heated. This results in a uniform cellular internal structure with the external surface of the hull being of a smooth non-cellular construction by reason of the cooling of the mold walls during the process.

The aft hulls are connected by a deck 14 which spans the space between the aft hulls 10. The deck 14 includes a frame which may be of rectangular configuration as shown and may be formed from conventional tubing 16 and fittings 18. In the illustrative embodiment, the deck 14 comprises a pair of transversely spaced tubes 16a and a pair of fore and aft spaced tubes 16b which are connected together in the rectangular configuration shown by the fittings 18. The tubingl6a, 16b and fittings 18 are retained together by a canvas sheet'20 which serves as the deck and which receives the fore and aft tubes 16b within sleeves 22 sewn along the fore and aft edges of the canvas 20. The transverse edges of the canvas are secured to their respective transverse tubes 16a by a cord 24 which is passed through a series of eyelets 26 formed along the sides of the canvas 20 and wrapped about its associated tube 16a. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the fittings 18 also includes a downwardly and inwardly extending socket 28 which receives a downwardlyand inwardly extending stanchion tube 30. The lower end of each of stanchion tube 30 is receivedwithin a socket formed in the upper surface of its associated aft hull 10, there being two such stanchions 30 and receptive hull sockets associated with each aft hull 10. The inwardly directed angle of the stanchion tubes 30 aids in precluding the separation of the hulls 10 from the deck 14 along a vertical or horizontal direction. The arrangement of the stanchion tubes 30 in combination with the intermediate spars 36 (described below) effectively locks the entire assembly together.

The aft hulls 10 are connected'to the sail rig 34 and forward hull 12 by a pair of intermediate spars 36 which are connected to the forward ends of the aft hulls and which converge forwardly where they engage receptive sockets 38 formed in a central connector 40 (see FIG. 4). A forward spar 42 has an end thereof received within a forwardly opening socket 44 in the central connector 40 and extends forwardly therefrom.

- The forward hull 12 is pivotally connected to the forward end of the forward spar 42 by the pivot fitting 46 which permits the forward hull 12 to be pivoted about an axis which is inclined slightly from the vertical. Fitting 46 includes a bushing portion 48 which receives the pivot shaft 50 and an integral rearwardly opening socket 52 which receives the forward end of the forward spar 42. In order to preclude rotation of the fitting 46 about the forward spar 42, a pin is passed through aligned holes formed in the socket 52 and forward spar 42. The position of the steerable forward hull 12 may be controlled by a line 56 which is connected to the ends of a transverse bar 58 which, in turn, is secured to the forward hull 12. The line is guided across the forward end of the deck 14 where it may be manipulated easily by the operator. The bar 58 preferably is secured to the forward hull 12 by passing it through a pair of holes formed in flanges 60 which extend upwardly from the sidewalls of the hull 12.

The foregoing arrangement of the central connector 40 and spars 36, 42, which radiate in a Y-shaped generally horizontal array from the central connector, may be assembled and disassembled quite easily. An

additional feature of the configuration shown is that the intermediate spars 36 preferably do not lie in the same plane as the forward spar but, instead, the sockets in the central connector 40 receive the spars 36, 42 so that the outer ends of those spars extend slightly downwardly in a slight tripod configuration. This insures that when the hulls are supported as on the water, the weight of the sailing craft and its passengers will bear down on the slight tripod attitude of the spars 36, 42 thus wedging and rigidifying them firmly within the sockets of the central connector 40. Although it is not necessary, locking pins 62 may be passed through appropriately formed holes in the sockets and their respective spars at the central connector 40. A locking pin, however, is preferred in association with the forward spar 42 to preclude rotation about its longitudinal axis. The central connector 40 is rigidified further by the gussetts 64 which extend between each pair of adjacent sockets. The central connector 40 may be formed from tubing arranged in a cluster or cast according to well known manufacturing techniques;

It should be noted that although the embodiment shown in the drawings and described above relates to an arrangement in which the spars 36, 42 are arranged in a slight tripod attitude, this configuration .may be omitted in some instances so that the spars 36, 42 may all lie in substantially the same horizontal plane. The Y- shaped configuration of the spars provides significant advantages over the T-shaped configuration employed in some iceboats in that because the intermediate spars 36 engage the hulls 10 at an angle, a substantially greater resistance to twisting of the hulls 10 about a transverse axis is obtained.

The sail rig 34 may include the well known lateen rig having a self supporting, relatively short, mast 66. The mast 66 supports a sail 68 having a luff spar 70 and a boom 72 which are connected to the luff 74 and foot 76 of the sail 68 respectively in the usual manner. The ha I lyard 78 is connected to the central region of the luff spar 70 and is passed through a guide 80 at the top of the mast 66. The lower end of the halyard 78 may be secured to a cleat 82 which may be fastened to the central connector 40. The boom 72 also includes a gooseneck 84 which connects the boom 72 to the mast while permitting free rotation of the boom about the mast. The sail 68 is sheeted by a conventional arrangement 86.

Another aspect of the invention relates to the construction of the luff spar 70, boom 72 and mast 66. These spars normally are relatively long and awkward to manipulate. In order to facilitate further the portability of the sailing craft, the spars are separable into segments 88 of smaller or easily handled length. FIG. 5 shows a representative junction between connectable spar segments 88 and they include simply an inner connector 90 which extends across the junction of adjacent tubular segments 88 of the spar. Each of the segments 88 preferably are of a length which is not substantially greater in length than the longest of the hulls, as ap proximately equal to the length of the aft hulls 10. I

As shown in FIG. 3, the preferred embodiment of the sailing craft includes aft hulls 10 which are generally asymmetrical in axial cross section and tend to extend somewhat downwardly and outwardly. Each hull has a relatively sharp keel edge 92 which extends fully along its length. The sides 94, 96 of each aft hull l0 and the keel edge 92 are arranged in relation to the junction of the stanchion tubes 30 and their receptive hull sockets so that the keel edge 92 is disposed transversely outwardly of that junction. The outside surface 94 of each hullis flatter than the inner surface 96. This arrangement provides for a greater lateral resistance of the hull arrangement and enables the omission of a conventional centerboard or daggerboard. Additionally, the hulls 10 preferably are symmetrical along their lengthwise dimension shown in FIG. 1.

Still another aspect of the invention relates to the ease by which its sailing characteristics may be modified as desired. For example, the relative location of the mast 66 with respect to the hulls l0, 12 may be changed with little difficulty by simply substituting spars of different lengths for the spars 36 and 42. This enables the center of effort and center of lateral resistance of the sail plane and hulls to be modified and shifted about if desired.

Although the invention has been described primarily in relation to a sailing craft for use in water, its various features may be employed in ice boats or land yachts having appropriate means for imparting mobility to the craft, depending on the surface over which the craft travels, such as ice runners or wheels respectively in place of the hull described herein. It should be understood further that the foregoing description of the invention is intended merely to be illustrative thereof and other embodiments and modifications may be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from its spirit.

Having thus described the invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A sail powered craft adapted to move along a surface comprising:

rigid central connector means;

a plurality of spars connected rigidly to said central connector means and radiating therefrom in a generally horizontal array;

means connected to the outer end of each of said spars for imparting mobility to said craft along said surface; and 1 sail means connected rigidly to said central connector and extending upwardly therefrom, said spars and said means for imparting mobility to said craft being arranged to provide a self-supporting stable structure, said connector, spars, and sail means being self-supporting without supplemental bracing means and comprising the sole bracing means for said craft.

, 2. A sail powered craft as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

said central connector having sockets receptive to the end of each of said spars, said spar-receptive sockets being arranged to position said spars in a direction which is inclined slightly downwardly from the horizontal.

3. A sail powered craft as defined in claim 2 including three of said spars and further comprising;

one of said spars extending forwardly of said central connector means;

the other two of said spars extending aft and diverging symmetrically about the longitudinal center line of said craft, said spars being arranged in a slight tripod configuration.

4. A sail powered craft as defined in claim 3 further comprising:

means for precluding rotation of said first forwardly extending spar about its longitudinal axis.

5. A sail powered craft as defined in claim 2 wherein said central connector means comprises:

a plurality of tubular members arranged in a cluster in which each of said tubular members radiates from a common central juncture; and

gusset means spanning adjacent tubular member in said cluster and being connected thereto.

6. A sailing craft as defined in claim 1 wherein said craft comprises a sailing boat, said means for imparting mobility comprising hull means and wherein said sail means includes spar means for supporting said sail, said craft further comprising:

means fabricating said sail-supporting spar means in a plurality of separable sections, each of said sections being of a length which is not substantially greater than the length of the longest of said hull means.

7. A sailing craft as defined in claim 1 including three of said spars in said generally horizontal array, one of said spars extending forwardly of said central connector means and the other two of said spars extending aft and diverging symmetrically about the longitudinal centerline of said craft and further comprising:

means mounting said means for imparting mobility at the end of said forwardly extending spar for pivotal movement about a generally vertical axis;

a control bar fixed to said forward mobility means and extending transversely thereof; and

a control line connected to each end of said control bar and having a'bight extending aft towards the aft-mobility means to enable said control line to be manipulated from a position adjacent said aft-mobility means.

8. A sail-powered craft as defined in claim 1 wherein said spars are arranged in a generally Y-shaped configuration in said array.

9. A sail powered craft adapted to move along a surface comprising:

central connector means;

a spar connected to and extending forwardly of said central connector means;

a pair of spars connected to said central connector and extending aft and diverging symmetrically about the longitudinal centerline of said craft;

means connected to the outer end of each of said spars for imparting mobility to said craft along said surface;

sail means connected to said central connector and extending upwardly therefrom, said spars and said means for imparting mobility to said craft being arranged to provide a stable support for said craft;

deck means connected to and spanning the mobility means associated with said aft extending spars, said deck means including stanchion means associated with each mobility means, said stanchion means associated with its respective mobility means extending downwardly and inwardly from said deck means, said mobility means having downwardly and inwardly extending sockets to receive said associated stanchion means; and

socket means formed in each of said aft mobility means and opening in a forward, convergent direction, said socket means being receptive to the divergent aft ends of said aft-extending spars.

10. A sailing boat comprising:

a central connector means;

a spar connected to and extending forwardly of said central connector means;

a pair of spars connected to said central connector and extending aft and diverging symmetrically about the longitudinal centerline of said craft;

a hull connected to the outer end of each of said spars for imparting mobility to said craft along the water;

said means connected to said central connector and extending upwardly therefrom, said spars and said hull being arranged to provide a stable support for said craft;

deck means connected to and spanning the hulls assaid aft hulls are symmetrical along the length thereof. 

1. A sail powered craft adapted to move along a surface comprising: rigid central connector means; a plurality of spars connected rigidly to said central connector means and radiating therefrom in a generally horizontal array; means connected to the outer end of each of said spars for imparting mobility to said craft along said surface; and sail means connected rigidly to said central connector and extending upwardly therefrom, said spars and said means for imparting mobility to said craft being arranged to provide a self-supporting stable structure, said connector, spars, and sail means being self-supporting without supplemental bracing means and comprising the sole bracing means for said craft.
 2. A sail powered craft as defined in claim 1 further comprising: said central connector having sockets receptive to the end of each of said spars, said spar-receptive sockets being arranged to position said spars in a direction which is inclined slightly downwardly from the horizontal.
 3. A sail powered craft as defined in claim 2 including three of said spars and further comprising: one of said spars extending forwardly of said central connector means; the other two of said spars extending aft and diverging symmetrically about the longitudinal center line of said craft, said spars being arranged in a slight tripod configuration.
 4. A sail powered craft as defined in claim 3 further comprising: means for precluding rotation of said first forwardly extending spar about its longitudinal axis.
 5. A sail powered craft as defined in claim 2 wherein said central connector means comprises: a plurality of tubular members arranged in a cluster in which each of said tubular members radiates from a common central juncture; and gusset means spanning adjacent tubular member in said cluster and being connected thereto.
 6. A sailing craft as defined in claim 1 wherein said craft comprises a sailing boat, said means for imparting mobility comprising hull means and wherein said sail means includes spar means for supporting said sail, said craft further comprising: means fabricating said sail-supporting spar means in a plurality of separable sections, each of said sections being of a length which is not substantially greater than the length of the longest of said hull means.
 7. A sailing craft as defined in claim 1 including three of said spars in said generally horizontal array, one of said spars extending forwardly of said central connector means and the other two of said spars extending aft and diverging symmetrically about the longitudinal centerline of said craft and further comprising: means mounting said means for imparting mobility at the end of said forwardly extending spar for pivotal movement about a generally vertical axis; a control bar fixed to said forward mobility means and extending transversely thereof; and a control line connected to each end of said control bar and having a bight extending aft towards the aft-mobility means to enable said control line to be manipulated from a position adjacent said aft-mobility means.
 8. A sail-powered craft as defined in claim 1 wherein said spars are arranged in a generally Y-shaped configuration in said array.
 9. A sail powered craft adapted to move along a surface comprising: central connector means; a spar connected to and extending forwardly of said central connector means; a pair of spars connected to said central connector and extending aft and diverging symmetrically about the loNgitudinal centerline of said craft; means connected to the outer end of each of said spars for imparting mobility to said craft along said surface; sail means connected to said central connector and extending upwardly therefrom, said spars and said means for imparting mobility to said craft being arranged to provide a stable support for said craft; deck means connected to and spanning the mobility means associated with said aft extending spars, said deck means including stanchion means associated with each mobility means, said stanchion means associated with its respective mobility means extending downwardly and inwardly from said deck means, said mobility means having downwardly and inwardly extending sockets to receive said associated stanchion means; and socket means formed in each of said aft mobility means and opening in a forward, convergent direction, said socket means being receptive to the divergent aft ends of said aft-extending spars.
 10. A sailing boat comprising: a central connector means; a spar connected to and extending forwardly of said central connector means; a pair of spars connected to said central connector and extending aft and diverging symmetrically about the longitudinal centerline of said craft; a hull connected to the outer end of each of said spars for imparting mobility to said craft along the water; said means connected to said central connector and extending upwardly therefrom, said spars and said hull being arranged to provide a stable support for said craft; deck means connected to and spanning the hulls associated with the aft spars, said deck means including stanchion means associated with each of said hulls, said stanchion means extending downwardly and inwardly from said deck means and being received within downwardly and inwardly extending sockets formed at the upper regions of said hulls; and each of said aft hulls having a keel line and being asymmetrical in cross-section, said asymmetry comprising said keel line being located transversely outwardly of the juncture of its associated stanchions with said hull.
 11. A sailing craft as defined in claim 10, wherein said aft hulls are symmetrical along the length thereof. 